Welcome to the OWL Lab!

Director: Nur Hani Zainal

National University of Singapore (NUS) Presidential Young Professor

Hani Zainal is a Presidential Young Professor in Clinical Psychology at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Director of the Optimizing Wellness (OWL) Lab. She completed a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship at Harvard Medical School (HMS), received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Clinical Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University, and completed her predoctoral clinical fellowship at the HMS-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the Cognitive Behavioral Scientist Track.

Her research centers on technology-facilitated interventions, particularly digital mental health interventions (DMHIs), with a strong emphasis on identifying predictors, moderators, and mediators that influence intervention effectiveness. In addition, Hani investigates how neurocognitive processes, psychoneuroimmunology, and cognitive-behavioral strategies contribute to the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders. To advance these aims, she draws on a diverse range of methodological approaches and datasets, including cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys, basic science experiments, ecological momentary assessments, and prospective cross-panel designs.

Hani aims to make novel and positively impactful contributions to both basic science and translational clinical research and practice. She is grateful to have received several awards that have supported her career, including the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Leonard Krasner Dissertation Award, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) Alies Muskin Career Development Leadership Program (CDLP), and the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) Superior Teaching and Research (STAR) Award.